It’s time to clean up this town

Thorne mayor Richard Walker and town council leader CLlr Martin Williams, are fed up with the state of their town and how little Doncaster Council do to keep it in a tidy state. Litter lines the streets

David Kessen

The mayor of a market town is demanding action from Doncaster Council over the litter-strewn state of the streets.

Richard Walker, the mayor of Thorne, claims the streets of his town are being neglected and says he never sees council workers clearing up. And residents in other parts of the borough have voiced their concerns about other neighbourhoods.

Thorne mayor Richard Walker and town council leader CLlr Martin Williams, are fed up with the state of their town and how little Doncaster Council do to keep it in a tidy state. A tree has started to grow through the derelict Hursts building

But Doncaster Council denies the suggestion that not enough is done for Thorne, which is on the outskirts of Doncaster, and says its staff clear up there every single day.

Mr Walker claims that the gulleys in the roads are often blocked; there is litter on the streets; and vegetation is growing out of the pavements and walls of some of the buildings.

He took up office last month and feels that Thorne and other more remote areas of the Doncaster borough should get more support from the local authority.

He said: “I just feel as though Doncaster Council is not interested in us or some of the other parts of Doncaster which are further out from the centre.

It feels like we are too remote and they are not bothered about coming out here

Richard Walker

“It feels like we are too remote and they are not bothered about coming out here.

“Thorne Moorends Town Council bought its own mechanical roadsweeper for £14,000 some years ago, but it was handed over to Doncaster because it had people who could operate it.

“I don’t think we see it here enough.

“The gulleys need sweeping and every time it rains they seem to be overflowing.

“There seem to be takeaway cartons, bottles and cans on the streets.

“On Finkle Street, we have some nice seating, but there is too much rubbish underneath. It looks unkempt.”

He said the town council did not have the resources to deal with the issue. But its staff had been tasked with a clean-up of the market area three weeks ago, which he thought made a difference.

He said he thought there were also similar issues in Bentley, where he runs a business.

He is also concerned about the appearance of the market place area, which has been a target for action for some time.

Some of the shops in that part of town have been described as falling into disrepair, including the former Hursts ironmongers and the market chip shop.

Gill Gillies, assistant director of environment, said: “We empty the bins, litter pick and clean up the town centre on a daily basis.

“We encourage everyone in the area to use the litter bins provided to keep the place tidy and we have officers regularly carrying out littering and dog fouling patrols to keep the area clean.”

RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT

Richard Walker is not alone with his concerns over litter.

Doncaster residents have told the Doncaster Free Press of concerns over the problem in their own villages on our Facebook page.

vanished pride

Christine Bailey said: “The Pride in Doncaster has disappeared over the years. The Town and outlying Villages have become so untidy and strewn with rubbish, its a disgrace.

“I’m in Bentley n the stuff that gets dumped in alley ways is unreal. Half a car the other week.”

‘sludgy mess’

Bev Smith Evans said: “Askern Road, Bentley where shops are is a disgrace and the unadopted road in between the shops now its rained is like a soggy sinking sludgy mess.”

recycling problems

Sarah Cowley said: “A lot of streets in Balby including mine, it doesn’t help when I stood and watched the recycle men emptying people’s boxes, dropping stuff all over the floor and leaving it. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw a litter picker the other day and it was looking okay until Tuesday rolled around and everyone’s recycling was all along the floor again.

green box collectors

Maureen Croft said: “Bentley is quite bad, if green box collectors picked up cans and bottles they drop it would help!

disgustinig

Samantha McAdam Ingham added: “Askern is getting worse. On recycling days there’s plastic bottles and tins, even smashed glass all over the streets. Wish they would give us a decent sized bin to put it all in. Also since fortnightly black bin collections,there’s rubbish dumped in public bins. They are often overflowing.in a morning we have uneaten takeaways dumped all over the place. It’s disgusting.”

complaints

Sarah Bromilow said: “Adwick le street in Adwick is disgraceful at times. Only after many complaints has the litter been sorted this week by the council.”

hexthorpe

Stacey Demes said Hexthorpe was disgusting.

bags dumped

Leanne Westwood said Finch Road in Balby was a concern to her. She said: “Someone’s dumped two or three carrier bags full of lager cans, potato peelings, food waste and such stuff. Bin men and green box men ignored them on Monday, Its still there now.....yuk!”

we Deserve better

Libby Bastock said: “I work in Stainforth and I’m disgusted with the litter along the streets all the time. The people of Stainforth deserve better!

rubbish tip

Kathleen Borthwick said: “Hexthorpe is a disgrace it’s like passing through a rubbish tip,”

strewn with litter

Sophie Hanson said: “I used to live on Marson Avenue in Woodlands and it was always strewn with litter and it always blew into our garden on the corner. Really wound me up. We now live in Bircotes and its clean and tidy! There’s barely any mess and people are really proud of their town.”

all over the floor

Vivienne Hornsaid: “Redhouse Lane in Adwick is bad with litter. We walk that way often and you can see where people sit outside the Cemetery to eat their McDonalds and just drop all the waste onto the floor. All along the hedgerows you see plastic bottles paper coffee cups plastic bags full of rubbish. It’s a disgrace that people don’t take their rubbish home.”

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